The invention relates to mining machines. More particularly, the invention relates to continuous mining machines, and to methods and apparatus for controlling such machines.
It is known to use a laser to control mining machinery. See, for example, Anderson, D. L., "Framework for Autonomous Navigation of a Continuous Mining Machine: Face Navigation,"(USBM IC 9214, 1989), which describes a laser-based heading control system built by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. This system uses substantial infrastructure, and the method of extracting heading is quite different from the system described below.
There are also multiple examples of guidance and mapping of underground mining vehicles using inertial sensors and scanning laser range finders. See, for example, Makela, H. et al., "Navigation System for LHD machines," Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles, 1995; Scheding, S. et al., "Experiments in autonomous underground guidance," Proceedings of 1997 ICRA, 1995; Shaffer, Gary, "Two dimensional Mapping of expansive unknown areas," PhD. Thesis, Carnegie-Mellon University, 1995.